Carolyn Fletcher has been named by the Lenoir County Artist League as the featured Artist of the Month for October. Fletcher lives in Kinston, is a retired nurse, and has been painting consistently for 23 years. She has participated in numerous painting workshops over the years which were technique driven with multiple instructors, including intensive studies in Taos, N.M.

Fletcher is a member of the Lenoir County Artist League, the Community Council for the Arts and the Public Art Committee. She has been juried into several area shows in Greenville, Goldsboro, Kinston, New Bern and La Grange, and her work is featured in private and professional collections. She works primarily in watercolor and mixed media collage and is interested in modern, abstract and contemporary painting.

Her paintings mostly consist of narratives and architecture of her travels, and she is focused on unique and eye-catching subject and narrative and works to express personal feeling and interpretation.

Clinics available during Medicare Part D open enrollment

Medicare Part D open enrollment runs now through Dec. 7.

Volunteers with Lenoir County Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program, operating under the N.C. Department of Insurance and in conjunction with Lenoir County Cooperative Extension, will provide a counseling clinic from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday at the Extension office, 1791 Hwy. 11/55, Kinston.

Bring Medicare cards, correspondence from Medicare and all other insurance and prescription cards, along with all prescribed medication. Changes will be effective January 1, 2013.

Medicare recipients are seen on a first come, first served basis at all clinics.

SHIIP volunteers also are available to assist beneficiaries and caregivers to compare current plans with plans for 2013 and make changes if desired. In Greene County, assistance is available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily at Greene County Senior Services; call 252-747-5436. In Jones County, volunteers are available from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesdays at the Jones County Senior Services; call 252-498-1001.

Get help in Lenoir County from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays at the Skinner Senior Center, 112 E. Blount St.; from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursdays at the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension Center, Highway 11/55; from 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 7 at the La Grange Public Library; and from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 26 and 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 27 at the Pink Hill Wellness Center. Call 252-527-2191 about any of these locations.

In 2012, 5.5 million seniors saved money on prescription drugs and 19 million got free preventive care. Since the prescription drug law was enacted, Medicare beneficiaries have saved nearly $4.5 billion on prescription drugs.